Francis Schaeffer once said, “Ideas have consequences,” and what I want to argue this morning is that it is equally valid to say, “So does Christmas.” Christmas has consequences. It means something. The event of God the Son taking on flesh and being born of a virgin means that we must think differently, act differently, and have a different purpose in life. In fact, when God first promised to David that he was going to raise up one from his line to reign forever, David’s remark was, “This is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!”

David spoke that right after God made a covenant with him in 2 Samuel 7. It’s no doubt a covenant that a number of us are familiar with. David had wanted to build the temple – a house for God. Yet God told David that he would not be the one to build a temple for him. That role would fall to his son, Solomon. However, God’s intention was to do something great for David. He was going to build David a house, not meaning a physical structure, but a dynasty. So, he promised that David would have a throne that would continue for generations – in fact, forever.

Now, God also told him something else. That the offspring he would raise up from David would be considered God’s “son.” This language would not have been unique language in the ancient Near East. It was commonly thought that each region in that time was ruled by a god and that the king would represent that god in his rule and would be called a son of God. David would have understood that and would not have questioned the Lord, “Why are you calling my son your ‘son’?”

However, David understood more as well. For he realized that the God who was making this promise to him was not just the God of Israel – like the surrounding regions claimed their own gods. No. He knew that the God who was making this promise to him was the one true God, who was God over all of the earth. For this reason, then, David does not hear this promise and say, “This is instruction for all of Israel.” Rather, he says, “This is instruction for all mankind.” David knew from the very beginning of his dynasty that God’s intent was to raise up one from David who would rule, not for a brief period of time merely over Israel, but forever over all the earth. And if that was true, then all the world needed to listen up. God had just promised to David that his King had been promise and was indeed coming.

Now, of course, we know this to be true, and we know that he has come. That’s what we’re celebrating at this time of year – that the Son of David has been raised up and that he is none other than the God-man, Jesus Christ. But what David knew back then is that this event comes with instruction for all mankind. We cannot sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come” without allowing that reality to have consequences in our lives – shaping how we act, think, live, and why we do all these things.

And David not only helps us in understanding that the coming of the Messiah brings instruction for mankind, he helps us to understand some specific reasons why the reign of David’s great son must impact our lives as he prays in Psalm 72.

I say that because it seems that Psalm 72 is a prayer of David. Now, that could be argued because the superscript actually says, “Of Solomon.” And it’s true that though this could be translated “to Solomon” or “for Solomon,” it’s probably best to say that it was written by Solomon. But if you’ve read the psalm, you can see why some have questioned whether this psalm was really written by Solomon. And the reason is that the psalm ends with verse 20 saying, “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.”

Therefore, some have said that this would be an odd place to have a verse like this, at the end of this psalm, if this psalm itself weren’t a prayer of David. Because of this, John Calvin argued that the superscription and the subscript (v. 20) were both accurate. That is, Solomon was the person who actually wrote the psalm down, and yet the psalm is a prayer that had been prayed by his father David – perhaps even the final prayer uttered by David, as a prayer for blessing as his son, Solomon, was taking the throne.

I think that’s a good argument. But however you look at it, what’s clear is that this psalm which pictures the reign of God’s ideal king gives us a picture of what God’s king and his kingdom will look like. And what it means for us is that we’re getting a picture of what Christ reign means for us now, as he exercising his dominion over the earth from the right hand of God. Therefore, this morning, I want us to look at the nature of God’s king and his kingdom and then ponder what that means for us. What consequences does the event of Christmas mean for how we act, think, and live and why we do those things. So, let’s look now at those things in Psalm 72.

First, we see that . . .

God’s king will reign in righteousness

We see this actually in two sections of the psalm. The first is in verses 1-4. Listen to what the psalmist prays, “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son [that is, let the king demonstrate in his reign what God has demonstrated in his own]. May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” And again, in verses 12-14, “For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.”

As David (or Solomon – though I’ll say “David” from here on), prays for what the king should be, he prays for righteousness. The king should rule and reign and judge in righteousness. Now, what this means is that he should not allow injustice to occur in his kingdom. One thing that can happen is that those individuals who have power can find themselves in position to abuse those who have no power. This happened in ancient times, and it happens today.

Think, for example, of two groups of people in our own day – the elderly and the unborn. Both of them find themselves in a position of weakness. The unborn can do nothing for himself. He has no voice. He has no strength. He can’t defend himself or argue his case. The elderly, though they are a step up in terms of ability from the unborn, can, however, find themselves in a similar circumstance. The mental or physical prowess they once had may be gone. And those in power might choose to see them as worthless, worthy or abuse or mistreatment or simply lack of care. So, others might abuse them. That is injustice or unrighteousness at display. Jesus himself was born into a world where helpless infant boys two-years-old and younger were being slaughtered.

David, then, prays that the king from his line would judge the poor with justice, defending their cause, that he would give deliverance to the children of the needy, would crush the oppressor, would deliver the needy, poor, and one who has no helper, would have pity on the week and save them – even save their lives from violence. And the people would live under a king like that would prosper. The mountains would even bear prosperity.

Well, we might ask, what does this have to do with us? After all, we’re not kings, and there’s no son of David sitting on the throne in the Middle East reigning over a righteous kingdom.

That’s right. But what we celebrate this time of year is that the king that God promised to bring from David’s line has come. The king who would fulfill every element of David’s prayer has come. The second that the infant Jesus was laid in the manger, God’s kingdom had arrived because God’s king had arrived. That’s why we sing, “Glory to the newborn King.”

Now, it’s true that we don’t see the perfect justice now because his kingdom has not fully revealed itself, and it won’t until he returns – on that day when the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our God. So, we live in this day when we can say that the kingdom is already here and yet not here fully. Thus, we do not see perfect justice around us, and yet, there is a responsibility that falls to us as Christians to carry out justice in this world. There is a responsibility that falls to us as individuals believers to demonstrate this just reign in our lives. We, as individuals, have the responsibility to speak up for those who have no voice, to defend those who are helpless, to rescue those who have been disregarded because society does not value them. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” this is part of what we’re praying for.

So, Psalm 72 reminds us that we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” we have a responsibility to say, “Lord, and use my life to manifest the righteousness of your just reign over the earth. Fulfill David’s prayer for justice through me.” That incarnation means that we must have a higher goal than living peaceful lives.

Second, we see that . . .

God’s King will reign forever over the whole earth

As David continues to pray for the king to come from him, he notes that the king will reign not for a brief time period but forever. Nor will he reign over a certain territory of the earth but over the whole earth. In verses 5-7, we see that he will reign forever. There, David prays, “May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!”

When David says, “may this happen as long as the sun endures or until the moon is no more,” he is saying that this should happen without end. So, he is praying that this King that God promised to come from his line might reign forever – without end. Furthermore, David recognizes that this King will reign over all the earth and demand the allegiance of all men. Thus, he prays, “May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!”

Again, remember David’s words when God first made this promise to raise up a son from him who would be God’s King. David rightly declared, “This is instruction for all mankind.” When Jesus was born into this born and laid in a manger, earth had indeed received her king. When the wise men traveled far to bring gifts to this infant child, they rightly understood that though they might have no national ties to him, he was deserving of their gifts, their praise, and their allegiance.

What Psalm 72 reminds us is that what we celebrate at Christmas comes with a demand to all men and women, boys and girls, all over the face of the earth for as long as the world continues – bow the knee to your King! And if you don’t, you will be judged.

And no one is in a position to say, “Well, maybe another one will rise up after him, and I’ll get on that king’s side.” He’s reigning forever. Nor can they say, “I’ll find a king who reigns over another nation.” His dominion is from sea to sea. In fact, all over kings will fall down before him and all other nations serve him.

This is why we go into all the world proclaiming the gospel – because the King has come and will judge anyone who does not bow in allegiance to him. We must not forget that. This is the church’s mission. This is why when Jesus was raised from the dead as the glorified and exalted King, he declared that we are to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything he’s commanded of them, baptizing them so that they might proclaim their allegiance to him. That kind of commission can only be uttered by one who understands that he reigns forever over all the earth.

And finally, we see in Psalm 72 that . . .

God’s king will glorify God and bless God’s people

The psalm ends by proclaiming that God and his King will be glorified and that God’s people will be blessed. These two themes are so intertwined, it’s hard to say that one verse shows one while another shows the other, so we’ll just read them all together. See David’s prayer for God’s glory, his King’s fame, and his people’s blessing in verses 15-19.

“Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mounts may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

You see both elements here. David is praying that people would be blessed under his reign, and certainly this meant that those in Israel would be blessed under Solomon’s reign and in the reign of godly kings after Solomon. But it also is a reminder that God’s reign through his King is about him glorifying himself and blessing his people.

That is to say, the greatest reason why we are on this earth is to glorify God. Indeed, that’s what all of us have failed in doing, and yet that’s what all of us are charged with. We are to live our lives seeking what might honor God most. That’s why we were created. Yet, at the same time, God is intent on blessing us more than we could imagine in eternity. We might say, for example, that it would glorify God and the spread of his gospel to sacrificially give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, and indeed it would. And yet, the Lord tells us that when we do that, it’s like we’re storing up treasures that will never pass away in heaven. His glory equals our good. Or, we might say that we think it would be glorifying to God to serve his church in ways that cause us great heartache and pain. That is, we embark on a road of service that is very difficult. Maybe others even wonder why you’ve done it or say that they’re glad it’s you and not them. And maybe there’s no one who sees your labors done in secret and praises you for them. And yet, God tells us that he sees what is done in secret and will reward you openly.

The point is that everything done in order to honor, serve, and glorify our God and King only results in our ultimate good and blessing. We cannot lose – even if it seems we’re trying!

So, let’s just take some time and evaluate our lives this morning. Christmas brings consequences. We have a call to demonstrate God’s justice in caring for the weak, needy, and helpless. We have a call to take the gospel to the ends of the earth so that people might bow the knee the only true King. We have a responsibility to bring glory to God and his King in every single thing we do. Yet, we cannot do any of this without receiving eternal blessing from the hand of our King. So, let us then purpose in our hearts this morning that we will demonstrate before the world around us that Christmas will indeed have consequences in our lives, and in that day we will glorify our God and King and be blessed under his gracious care. Amen.